The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transferring products from a manufacturing unit to a packaging unit.
In particular, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transferring chemical and/or pharmaceutical products from a manufacturing unit, for instance a compressing machine, able to receive the chemical-pharmaceutical product in the form of incoherent material such as powders, fine-grain granules and the like and to reduce it to tablets, pills, capsules and the like, towards a packaging unit, constituted by a blistering machine, able to form bubble packages, known with the term xe2x80x9cblistersxe2x80x9d and destined to contain the aforementioned tablets, pills, capsules and the like.
In the technical field relating to the plants used by the pharmaceutical industry for transferring the related chemical-pharmaceutical products, the aforesaid incoherent material is placed inside appropriate containers which are located in a storage area called xe2x80x9ctechnical areaxe2x80x9d positioned at a determined first level which is at a relative height greater than that of a second lower level called xe2x80x9cproduction areaxe2x80x9d wherein the manufacturing unit comprising the aforementioned compressing machine is usually situated.
The flow of the incoherent material from the upper container to the lower compressing machine occurs by gravity and usually presents problems, closely linked to the need to maintain a strict separation between the technical area and the production area in order to prevent the spreading of the dusts into the environment, a crossed contamination between the two aforesaid areas, as well as the perfect cleanliness of the related devices used to off-load the incoherent material from the container to the underlying machine.
For this purpose the same Applicant has filed an application for a European patent with publication number EP 0 810 170, whose content is introduced herein, and relating to a connecting device between the container and the compressing machine and comprising connecting means between the two levels, constituted by a rigid cylindrical conduit positioned vertically, within which is coaxially inserted a cartridge, comprising a tubular sack made of Polyethylene, of the disposable kind, having its own extremities respectively connected to the discharge outlet of the container and to the loading inlet of a hopper of the compressing machine.
The emptying of the container takes place by the passage of the incoherent material contained in the container itself through the tubular sack, which must be connected hermetically to the container and to the hopper in order not to let the material be released, thereby preventing its dispersion into the environment.
For the closure of the tubular sack, as well as for the closure of the container, fastening means are used, such as bands or sealing rings, combined with controllable shut-off organs such as butterfly valves and the like.
The aforementioned cylindrical conduit comprises bidirectional means able to slide inside the conduit to allow the translation of the sack from the discharge outlet of the container towards the loading inlet of the hopper. These means comprise a transfer plunger, called xe2x80x9cshuttlexe2x80x9d, which is movable inside the conduit and is connected to the free extremity of the sack.
During its descent phase, the shuttle slowly and progressively unfurls the sack until bringing its free extremity in correspondence with the inlet of the loading hopper of the compressing machine.
It is evident that throughout the off-loading phase the strict separation between the technical area and the production area is maintained, avoiding the aforementioned problems of dispersion of the incoherent material in the surrounding environment and so-called cross-contaminations. To prevent the material from spilling, the tubular sack is closed by a hermetic clip which is removed only once the connection with the compressing machine has been effected. When the off-loading of the container is complete, the tubular sack is heat-sealed and cut in proximity to the aforementioned connection with the compressing machine and is subsequently disposed of, avoiding cleaning operations on the connection conduit itself.
The problems described above are equally encountered during the operations that follow the off-loading of the incoherent material from the container as described above and which are defined by the transfer of the tablets, pills, capsules and the like produced by the compressing machine towards a blistering machine which, usually, in the plants of the pharmaceutical industry, is located relatively far from the compressing machine itself. These problems are obviously connected to the need to prevent the diffusion into the environment of powders, which are inevitably produced during the handling of the tablets, thereby preventing a cross-contamination between the two aforementioned machines, as well as the perfect cleanliness of the related devices used to transfer the tablets, pills and the like produced by the compressing machine to the blistering machine.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus able to transfer chemical-pharmaceutical products such as tablets, pills, capsules and the like from a compressing machine to a blistering machine in a simple, economical and rapid manner, avoiding all problems linked with the contamination of the products towards the external environment, with cross-contamination, and with the cleanliness of the devices used to connect the two machines.
In accordance with the present invention a method is provided as claimed in the first claim for a method.
The present invention further relates to an apparatus as claimed in the first claim for an apparatus.